Unreeling and tension device



P. E. CHAPMAN.

APPLICATION FILED APR-24,1917.

Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

mtwessas I 61. O m w 56 O 5O j w/writ P. E. CHAPMAN.

unmmmn AND TENSION DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.24. I917.

' ,396,728. Patented Nov. 15,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

in t UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PEN'BOSE E. CHAPMAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

UNBEELING AND TENSION DEVICE.

. accompanying 'drawings, forming part of this specification.

The object of my-invention is particularly to provide a payout reel holder and tension device which shall eliminate the troubles experienced when reels or spools of material .such as .wlre. string, etc., are paldout under heavy tension at high,intermittent, ir-

which sha regular, erratic or jerky speeds, with varying weights and diameters ofreel,inert1a atqstartm momentum at stopplng, and

g maintain a practically uniform tension on said wire in spite of the said and a other variants, eliminate chattering of the 3 supporting rotatable package, banks, etc,

reel and" do all this without injuring the finish, coating or covering of, or, the said wire itself andto provide easy and wide adjustability so that wires of very, great differ ences in size may. bev handled by the same machine. Y

* For convenience throu hout this document'the word wire wil be taken to include an and all elongated material such as wire bot bare and insulated, thread,-string, rope, ribbon, cable or other materials which ma be wound and unwound upon spools,

ree s, drums, bobbins, forms, coils or in self and the word reel will betaken to include any and all types of said rotatable packages of said elongated material.

While this invention is capable of being operated in connection with an device or winding machine as, especially when of high operation requiring wire fed to it, it will be described in connectlon wlth an armature 1 speed, such machines" probably introduce more difliculties into the problem or feeding the wire to them than'any other: For they demand that the magnet ,wire shall-be ,fed to them at a uniform tension which :must i be close to the elastic limit in spite of the difficulties enumerated above, and must take care of the erratic or 'jerky demand due to the cornersof the armature.

In the drawingsFigure 1 is a perspective Specification of Letters Patent.

Application fled April 24, 1917. Serial No. 164.115.

Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

. view 0t one of my armature winding machines fully equipped with motor, supports, and accessories as is more fully described in my Patent 1,121,798, and my pendin application Serial Number 877,167, filed%)ecember 14, 1914, and with automatically operating and controlling means that are the subject-of this document.

Fig; 2 is aperspective view as seen from the rearof the tension device and reel holder with other portions of the machine removed to avoid confusion.

Fig. 3 is a view showin an alternative form wherein a motor is directly connected to the reel holder spindle and electrically controlled.

In all views all characters denoting the same parts are uniform.

1 indicates the head or armature winding machine proper driven by an electric motor 3. The specific character of this machine is not material to the resent invention and is the'reforenot descrl (1 herein. It carries the core 2 of an armature meant to bewound. 4 indicates the controller for the motor and 5 a pedal for operating the controller. The

support for the parts that have been described consists of several members designated 6, 7 and 8, but as these may be varied within wide -l1mits they need not be def scribed in detail. 9 indicates a reel or spool of wire and 9' the wire passing from the said spool past the tension devices to be described and to the armature core 2. The reel is carried by a suitable support 10 and turns upon a spindle 11, being held thereon by a suitable locking nut-11. 12 is, the brake band on the spindle 11 and 13 a brake shoe cooperating therewith.

14 is a spring through which shoe 13 is actuated by means of connecting rod 15.

Brake shoe 13 carries an arm 13,vwhich' in turn carries idler pulley 13 that is ada ted to tighten loose belt 16. It in turn is riven by. pulley 17 carried by the motor 3. 18 is the main or body casting of the tension device pro r hereinafter called the face plate which is secured to the reel holder frame -10.

19 (Fig. 1) is a sprin actuated arm here-- inaftercalled the ta e up arm tipped with a ulley 19' over which the wire 9' runs.- his arm- 19 is in turn actuated throu h its shaft '20 by the spring 21 (Fig. 2) an is "coupled to the connecting rod 15 by means of the tail crank 22 thus actuating the brake shoe 13.

mechanism, as will be more fully described.

- The point at which the connecting rod 15 pulls against the spring 14 determlnes the tension of the brake and must be altered as the springs 21 and 34 are wound u To accomplish this the spring barrel 23 which is driven by the gear 24 and its worm 25 and crank 26) has a spiral cam 27 attached to it, said spiral cam as it rotates moving the spring end of connecting link 15 along spring 141 through lever 28 its shaft 28 lever 29 and a spring connecting link 29' which flexiblyconnects the said rod 15 with lever 29.

It will also be noted that this mechanism permits all springs to be adjusted simultaneously at one point viz. crank 26.

Additional tension is provided for the wire 9 by running it around the pulleys 30, 31, 32, pulleys 30 and 31 being rotatably mounted on rigid studs. Pulley 32, however, is mounted on a crank or arm 33 hereinafter called the tension arm which in turn is mounted'on a quill 33' through which shaft 20 operates. Said quill is driven by a spring 34 (Fig. 2) shown at the cut-away behind spring 21, which spring is also driven by the spring barrel'23 and its appurtenances.

The parts 32, 33, 33', 34 and 23 comprise a second means or mechanism controlled by the tension applied to the wire as it is being delivered from the reel to the winding mechanism.

The spring 34 actuates the tension arm 33 carrying its combination brake pulley 32 and when under tension presses the said brake pulley against the first member of the floating brake system, 35, 35', 35", 36, 36'. Brake shoes 35', 35" being connected to the hub of 35 through the springs 36 and 36', the said hub of 35 floats on the end of the quill 33' 2'. e., is loose and free to oscillate. Then the combination brake sheave pulley 32 is pressed against the shoe 35 it in turn reacts against the pulleys. 30 and 31 through said brake system. 33" is a buffer spring to limittlie travel of tension arm 33.

In Fig. 3, 37 is an electricmotor directly connected to the spindle 11, and 38 is an arm used toactuate controller 39 which con trols the action of said motor 37 The operation of this tension device and reel holder is as follows:

Spool of wire 9 is slipped on the spindle 11, and secured byjthe spindle nut 11' the.

wire it it is of moderate size, then being threaded as shown Fig. l first upwardly and over the take up arm pulley 19', thence downwardly and around the tension device pulley 30 crossin itself, around the pulley 31, crossing itsel thence downwardly and around the pulley 32 crossing againand upwardly toythe winding machine and core, 1 and 2.

If thewire is small the full tension may be applied to the spool. Under these circumstances the-wire is threaded over pulley 19 thence under ulley 32, etc., the tension braking system 835, 35, 35", etc.) being then out of commission. This is accomplished by setting the neutral point of the spring 34 ahead of that of the spring 21 in a manner to release the pulley 32 from its brake shoe 35 ahead of the system controlled by take up arm 19 and its appurtenances.

the same time that this take up arm travels downwardly it either adjusts or entirely releases the brake shoe 13, through the spring 14, connecting rod- 15, and tail crank 22, which is connected to the arm 19 by the shaft 20. The reaction therefore is not only to adjust the brake 13,'but to cushion the demands for wire upon the-spool 9 giving it time to start without breaking the wire or suffering from excessive tension.

In the vast majority of cases this action is sufficient: However, should the'inertia of the spool become very great in comparison with the dimensions of the wire it may become desirable to give the spool a start in addition to entirely releasing the brake, and this may be accomplished in many ways. The preferred form is as follows: Attachedto motor or main shaft of the winding machine is pulley 17 over-which a loose belt 16 travels, in turn playing over a sheave 12' upon spindle 11 in such a manner that ordinarily it exerts almost no influence on thejsaid sheave 12 therefore none on the reel 9. When the releasing of the brake is not suflicient to allow the pull of the wire 9 to overcome the inertia of the spool, take up arm 19 continuously travels downwardly actuating the brake shoe 13, which carries the arm 13 and its idler pulley '13". This pulley is thus'forced against the belt 16 in a mariner to tighten it up and cause it to actuate the sheave 12 and through it the spindle 11 and reel 9. Upon the reel acquiring sufiicient speed the take up arm will travel upwardly taking up any excess of wire being paid out and while doing so releasing the belt 16 then adjusting the brake'13.

Another good method of imparting an initial start is to apply a motor 37 directly to the spindle 11 as shown in Fig. 3 substi.

Brake spring 14 allows the take up arm 19 considerable travel-after brake shoe 13 goes into action.

On moderate and coarse sizes of wire all the tension ma not be applied to the spool owing to the elivering turn cutting down throu h the wire remaining on the s 001. It therefore becomes necessary to a p y additional tension to. the wire over t iat which ma safely be ap lied through the spool. This I accomplish?) an improvement upon the conventional pull ey'tension device wherein the wire travels around ulleys which have a braking power applie to them. In the conventional tension device as just described the tension does not change or adjust to allow for the inertia and momentum of the spool, varying diameterand all the rest of the aforementioned variants. In order to maintain a high tension it is nec es sary to adjust or entire y release the tens on on these ulleys at the instant of startlng to allow or the inertia of the spool, which maybecomesuflicient for all tension needs (or more), and I accomplish this ob ect as follows:

The wire being'wound around pulleys 30, 31, and 32 as explained, when wire is demanded the brakepulley 32, will be carrled upwardly with the wire to such a point that it and its accompanying pulleys'30 and 31, slip the brakes and vice versa thus automatically adjusting the brake tension. Should the inertia of the spool at the start in spite of the take up arm be sufficient to supply either a portion or all of the tension, the pulley 32 will still further recede or pull away from the floating brake system 35 to 36 in- 'clusive, thus if necessa entirely releasing itself and its neighboring pulleys 30 and 31. At stopping, when the momentumof the reel 9' pays out an excessive amount of wire, thereby lowering the tension on .thewire,

the pulley 32 under the influence of its' spring 34 will recede and press harder against the brake system automatically increasing the tension on allthree of the tension pulleys. p

Owing't-o the fact that the take. up arm travels over a limited area, it is necessary that the various functions thereof should take place at approximately the same position in travel, irrespective of the size of the wire the device is handling, and this means that the spring 14, interposed between the said take up arm 19 and the brake shoe 13, should be adjustable in strength,-and not simply wound up tighter as at first would be supposed and is equivalent to putting in a stiff spring for coarse wire, and substituting therefor a light spring for light wire. I overcome this objection by making the spring 14 preferably of a cantaliver type and leaf construction, i. e., supported at one end the other end remaining free, and applyingthe braking tension through the connecting rod 15 to' it at different distances from its base. This brake spring should be actuated at or near the tip for fine .wire, and

at or near the base for coarse wire, and inter-' mediately for intermediate sizes, spiral cam 27 attached to the gear 24 controlling said actuating point, and bein proportioned to preserve the correct ad ustment between brake spring 14 and the springs 21 and 34, as hereinbefore described.

There are many modifications of my device that can be made without departing from the spirit of this invention, the ones shown being preferred forms.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character herein described, the combination of means for rotatably supporting a reel carrying wire, a brake mechanism acting to retard the-free rotation of the reel, means acted upon by the wire inits course from the reel arranged to move as the tension thereon varies, means connecting the said movable means with the brake mechanism, including a resilient portion, and means for adjusting the active stren th of said resilient portion.

2. n a device of the character herein described, the combination of means for rotatably supporting a reel carrying wire, a brake mechanism for acting to retard the free rotation of the reel, a take-up arm acting on the wire, a spring acting on the take up arm, means for varying the force of the spring that acts on the arm, means for connecting the take-up arm with the brake mechanism, including a resilient portion, and means for simultaneously adjusting the active strength of the said resilient portion and he force of the spring that acts on the take-up arm.

3. The combination stated in claim 1 when the resilient portion of the connection between the brake mechanism and movable means is a cantaliver spring.

4. The combination stated in claims 1 and 3 where the means for adjusting the active strength of the cantaliver spring comprises a connection with the spring adjustable toward and from its free end.

5. In a device of the character herein described, the combination of a rotatably'supported reel, a brake acting to retard the free rotation of the reel, a spring-actuated take up arm bearing on the wire in its course and arranged to move as the draft thereon varies, connections between the takeup arm and the brake arranged to release the brake as the take-up arm moves due to increased draft upon the wire and to apply the brake as the draft on the wire diminishes, such connections including a spring, and means for adj usting the active strength of the said spring.

6. The combination stated in claim 5 when the spring in the connection between the take-up arm and the brake is a cantaliver spring and the means for adjusting the active strength of said spring are movable longitudinally thereofso as to engage therewith nearer to or farther from the free end thereof.

7. In a device of the character herein described, the combination of a rotatably supported reel carrying wire, a brake acting to retard the free rotation of the reel, a take-up arm bearing on the wire in its course and arranged to move as the draft thereon varies, a spring'actin'g on the take-up arm, connections between the take-up arm and the brake arranged to release the brake as the take-up arm moves due toincreased draft upon thewire and to apply the brake as the draft on the .wire diminishes, such connections including a' spring, means for varying the tension of the spring that acts upon the take-up arm, a cam movable with the means for adjusting the spring of the take-up arm,

and means operated by the cam to vary the active strength of the spring included in the connection between the take-up arm and the brake. V I

8. In a device of the character herein described, the combination of means for rotatably supporting a wire-carrying reel, a brake device to retard the free rotation of the reel, means for applying additional ten sion to the wire delivered from the reel, and means controlled b the tension upon the wire for automatically controlling the brake of the reel and the means for applying tension to the wire.

9. In a device of the character herein de- BW scribed, the combination 1? means for rotatably supporting a wire-carrying reel, means caring upon the wire and moved thereby as the pull on the wire being drawn ofl the reel varies, a brake'for the reel, means for applyin additional tension to the wire being drawn rom the reel ,,cand connections with the said means bearing" upon and moved b the wire for operatin ,both the brake for the reel and the devices or applying additional tension to the wire.

10. In a device of the character herein described the combination of means for supporting a reel, with a tension device, comprising a tension arm carrying a pulley a brake shoe adapted to act with said pullby,

means for causing the said tension arm to press said pulley against said brake shoe in opposition to the pull of the materlal from said reel when passing around said pulley.

11. In a device of the character herein described the combination of means for sup porting a reel, with a tension device consisting of a plurality of pulleys, a movable tension arm carrying one of. said pulleys, a floating system of brake shoes, means :for causing the said tension arm to press its pulley against a. member of said floating brake shoe system in opposition'to the pull of the material from said reel when passing around said pulley, means for causing the said floating brake system to react against opposing pulleys around which the said material may also travel.

12. In a device of the character herein described the combination with means for sup porting a reel, of a tension device for the wire from the reel consisting of a plurality of pulleys, a tension arm carrying one of said pulleys, a brake shoe system the membersof which are resiliently coupled together, means for causing the said tension arm to press its pulley against a member of said brake shoe system in opposition to the pull of thematerial from said reel when passing around said tension arm pulley, and meansfor causing the said brake system to react against an opposing pulley. around which the said wire may also travel.

13. In a device of the character herein described the combination of means for supporting a reel,.a tension device for the material from the reel consisting of a plurality of pulleys, a tensionarm carrying one of said pulleys, a brake shoe system themembers of which are resiliently coupled together, a spring for causing the said tension arm to press its pulley against a member of said brake shoe system in opposition to the pull of the material from sald reel when passing around said tension arm pulley, and means for adjusting said spring.

14. In a device of the character herein described, the combination of rotatable means for supporting a wire-carrying reel, a brake operat ng upon the said reel, means for operating the brake controlled by the pull upon the wire from the reel, tension means acting on the wire, comprising a tension arm carrying a pulley with which the wire engages, a brake shoe adapted to co-act with the said pul ey, and means for causing the tension arm to press the said pulley against the brake shoe in opposition to the pull of the wire from the reel in passing around the pulley.

15. In .a device of the character herein described, the combination of rotatable means for supporting a wire-carrying reel, a brake to control the rotation of the reel, a take-up arm bearing upon he wire and moved thereby as the pull thereon varies, which take-up arm controls the brake for the reel, a tension deviceacting on thG'WIIE in its course from the reel comprising a lurality of pulleys one of which is carried by a tension arm, a resiliently connected brake shoe system interacting with the said tension pulleys, the said tension arm being arjranged to actuate the said brake system, 10

reel, atake-up arm bearing u on the wire wire, springs for the take-u and moved thereby as the pul on the wire varies, such take-up arm controlling the brake for the reel, connections between the take-up arm and the brake througliwhich it is controlled,.comprising a resilient link, means for varying the active strength of the saidlink, a tension device'acting on the wire in its course from the reel, comprising a lurality of pulleys, a resilientl connected rake shoe system interacting w1th the pulleys of the tension device, a tension arm carryin one of the pulleys and controlling the bra e system therefor, as the tension arm moves due to the varying pull of the arm and the tension arm respectively, an means for simultaneously adj/listing these springs.

17. In a device of the character herein described, the combination of means for rotatably supporting a wire-carrying reel,

a brake operating to control the reel, a movable take-u arm controlled by' the pull upon the wire arranged to operate the reel brake, means for applying tension to the wire in its course from the reel, springs operating on the said take-up arm and tension device respectively, and means for-si multaneously adjustingv the said springs, said means being arranged to set the'neutral point of the said springs successively.

18. In' a device of the character herein described, the combination of rotatable means for a-wire-supporting reel, a brake controlling the reel, a take-up arm bearing upon the wire and moved thereby as the pull thereon varies, a connection between the take-up arm and the reel brake for operating the latter 'as the arm is moved, comprisin a resilient link in the connection, a tension %levice acting on the wire in its course from the reel and comprising a tension arm movable as the pull u n the wire varies, springs for the said ta e-up arm and the tension device respectively, and means for simultaneously adjusting the active strength of the said springs and also the active strength of the resilient link. p

' 19. In a device of the character herein described, the combination of means for suporting a wire carrying reel, a brake controling the reel, means enga ed by the wire and movable accordingly as t e tension upon the wire varies, connections, between the said means and the brake whereby the latter is operated from the former, other means engaged by the wire and movable as the pull on the wire varies, means for imparting an initial start to the reel, and connections between the second mentioned means engaged by the wire and moved as the pull thereon varies, for controlling the reel-starting means. j

In testimony whereof I have hereunto afiixed my signature in the resence of two witnesses, this 20th day of ril, 1917. PENROSE E. HAPMAN;

Witnesses: I

J USTINE E. KossMAN, E. F. Smnmn. 

